


Cover Me

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Drama, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-20
Updated: 2011-10-20
Packaged: 2017-10-24 19:25:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/266997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She couldn’t believe this was happening to them in this safe, quiet neighborhood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cover Me

She remembered laughter, though hours later she wouldn’t remember what they were laughing about. She remembered the smell of rain in the air and the soft breeze that carried it. She remembered the pep in Mudgie’s step, Dave’s arm around her, and that a Buick Lacrosse drove by. Everything else was a blur…bits and pieces she’d probably never recover.

He stepped out from behind the bushes, holding a knife. Erin gasped before she even saw the weapon. He scared her and then she knew they were in trouble. Dave held her closer.

“Lets make this quick, folks. Give me everything and no one gets hurt.”

Mudgie started barking and growling low in his throat. Erin held his leash tighter.

“Shut that damn dog up, I mean it.”

“Mudge, cut it out.” Dave said. His tone was quite calm considering what was happening.

The retriever stopped, looking at his owner for what to do next. Dave was slowly moving Erin’s body behind his and she was still holding on to the dog.

“We’re not giving you anything.” He told the guy.

“Look Pops don’t be a hero. Give me your money and jewelry and make it snappy. If you don’t, I’ll kill her.”

The guy made a grab for Erin and Dave grabbed him instead. Everything else happened too fast. The guy got in a few licks; Dave did as well. Erin didn’t know what to do. She was standing there frozen, her heart pounding in her ears. She couldn’t believe this was happening to them in this safe, quiet neighborhood.

“Erin!” Dave exclaimed, still tussling. “Call the police!”

He almost had the guy but as soon as he heard the world ‘police’ he seemed to get his second wind. Erin watched in horror as he stabbed Dave twice, in the side and under his arm. She screamed as he took off into the darkness. When she let Mudgie go to sink down on the sidewalk beside Dave, the dog took off after him.

“Mudgie!” he commanded. “Stop now!”

The dog again did as he was told. He ran back to the couple, who were both on the sidewalk.

“Oh God, Dave, oh my God, you're bleeding.” Erin couldn’t breathe. She tried as hard as she could but she couldn’t breathe.

“Call the police baby. I’ll be fine but you need to call 911. Right now, Erin.”

She nodded, watching him bleed from both wounds. She used a hand to try to stop the blood while the other dialed for help.

“Fairfax County Emergency.”

“We need your help. Um…my boyfriend’s been stabbed. Please help us. There was an attempted robbery and my boyfriend’s been stabbed. He’s bleeding a lot.”

“Where are you, ma'am?”

“I don't know!” Erin exclaimed. “Where are we? David, where are we?”

“Woodcrest Lane.” Dave replied, grimacing in pain.

“We’re on Woodcrest Lane; near Temple Drive…we were walking our dog. Please hurry.”

“We’re sending the police and an ambulance, ma'am. We’re sending them right away.”

“Please hurry.” She repeated.

Erin hung up and looked at Dave. He was resting against her and Mudgie was close by to protect them both.

“There's a lot of blood.” She told him. “I can't believe this is happening.”

“I'm gonna be OK, baby. I’ll just pass out for a little while and things will be fine.”

“No, Dave, no, no, no. Stay with me…do not pass out. I need you to stay with me. What were you thinking? This fucking watch doesn’t mean anything to me. You mean everything.”

“I wasn’t gonna let him hurt you.” Dave whispered. “Fuckin coward.”

Erin didn’t care that she was crying; she was actually sobbing. She couldn’t be brave right now. Dave was bleeding in her arms. Brave went out the window two stab wounds ago. She heard the sirens in the distance and wished they would hurry.

***

“I got here as soon…”

Hotch stopped in his tracks when Dave put his finger on his lips. He pointed and Hotch’s eyes followed his finger to the chair where Erin Strauss was curled up sound asleep. He didn’t know they'd been together when this happened. He didn’t even know what happened yet.

“What the hell happened?” Hotch lowered his voice as he approached the hospital bed where Dave was resting.

“Some punk tried to rob us while we were walking the dog. He came out of the bushes and threatened Erin. He stabbed me when I stopped him from grabbing her.”

“Are you going to be alright?”

“The one under my arm was a bleeder but no major organs were hit. I lost about a pint of blood so they had to give me some. I also got about 25 stitches. Erin was scared to death…I bled all over her. That’s why she’s wearing scrubs. The police took her clothes, thought the creep could’ve cut himself while we were fighting.”

“They haven’t found him?” Hotch asked.

“No, but they found the knife at the end of the street thrown into some shrubs. Surely it has his fingerprints on it. He wasn’t wearing gloves. I was able to give a good description of him but Erin was petrified, Hotch.”

“I'm sure she was. It’s a scary situation for anyone but seeing you being stabbed is awful.”

He looked over at her again. Not that Hotch ever had reason to but he’d never seen Erin Strauss sleep. She looked peaceful. He felt for what she’d been through in the last couple of hours.

“I wasn’t going to let anyone hurt her.” Dave replied, bringing his friend out of his thoughts. “No way in hell.”

“I understand.” Hotch put his hand on Rossi’s shoulder. “How long are they keeping you?”

“I think I'm just here overnight. Then they’ll make me go home and rest. How long that'll last, I'm not sure.”

“At least two weeks…boss’s orders.”

“I can live with that.” Rossi replied.

“Rest doesn’t mean typing all day and researching and writing all night, Dave. Rest actually means rest today.”

“I know that. Someone I know can turn into Nurse Ratchet when she has to.” he looked over at Erin. She wasn’t sleeping because she wanted to. She simply passed out from exhaustion and concern. “I need you to take her home.”

“Right.” Hotch smirked. “I’ll take her home just like you took Emily home after I got stabbed. Its never gonna happen. In fact, I probably need to go before she wakes up. Seeing me here will embarrass her. Are you alright?”

“I kinda feel like I got stabbed.”

“Your sense of humor is still intact. Expect lots of concerned phone calls in the morning.”

“A man needs to be feel loved.” Dave said. “Goodnight, Aaron.”

“Goodnight.”

Hotch patted Rossi’s shoulder and left the hospital room. Dave lay back against the pillows, closing his eyes. When he and Erin went out to walk the dog that evening, they weren't expecting this. They weren't expecting to be crime victims. They surely weren't expecting to be violent crime victims.

All that mattered in that moment was protecting Erin. He wasn’t in the mood to give some punk ass kid his watch and jewelry. He sure wasn’t going to let him threaten or touch Erin in any way. Dave knew she was frightened…he could feel it coming off her in waves. Turning his head, he looked at her curled up in the uncomfortable chair. As if she knew he was watching, she always knew, Erin opened her eyes.

“Hey beautiful.” He smiled.

“How are you feeling?” She asked, stretching her arms above her head before standing. She walked over to the bed, took his hand, and kissed it.

“I'm alright.”

It was mostly a lie but he didn’t want to worry her. Dave was definitely feeling like a 55 year old man who got into a street fight and was stabbed. He might not feel that way in a few days but damn if he didn’t feel it now.

“You should be resting anyway. You lost a lot of blood, David.”

“I want to know how you are.” He replied. “Your hands are still trembling.”

“I can't seem to make them stop.” Erin tried to smile but didn’t quite make it. “I was so damn afraid tonight. I've never…I couldn’t stop looking at that knife.”

“I wasn’t going to let him hurt you.” Dave replied.

“You didn’t have to be stabbed to prove that.”

“He tried to grab you. I was done playing games. I know times are tough and people are struggling but I wasn’t going to let him hurt you.”

“I just want them to catch him before someone else gets hurt.” Erin said.

“Wait until the idiot finds out he’s gonna be charged with felony attempted murder of a federal officer. He’ll be spending a long time in prison for a watch he never got his hands on.”

“He could’ve killed you, David. All I was thinking and I know this is dumb, but I was thinking about the scene in _Ghost_ when Sam dies and he doesn’t know he’s dead. He’s chasing the guy and he turns back around and sees Molly holding his lifeless body.”

“No more Patrick Swayze films for you.” Dave replied.

“Don’t make jokes.”

“I'm not dead.” He reasoned.

“But you could’ve been…you weren't thinking when you went after him. He could’ve been crazed on meth or something, David. Some people have no regard for life.”

Dave sighed, closing his eyes and opening them again. He held tighter to her hand.

“No one is ever going to hurt you when I'm there. He reached for you and that was it. I took a beating but he didn’t walk away unscathed. The most important thing is that you're safe, Erin. I'm OK being in a hospital bed as long as you're OK.”

“I am not OK, David. I'm not OK; I'm freaking out.”

He pulled her into a hug, ignoring the pain. Erin clung to him and the damn tears came back. She really hated crying but it had to come out somehow. Dave kissed her shoulder while gently stroking her hair.

“We’re both going to be OK.” He whispered.

“I need to man up.”

“Hey, hey now.” he pulled away from her, taking her face in his hands. “How many times do I have to say that you do not? Crying is OK.”

“You don’t do it.” Erin replied.

“Well…”

“Well what?” She managed a smile.

“When the time comes and I have to, I will do it with confidence. Why? Because it’s OK.”

“It’s OK.” She repeated.

“Absolutely.” Dave wiped her tears and kissed her face. “I want you to go home and get some sleep, baby.”

“I'm not going anywhere.”

“That chair isn’t good for you.”

“Tell me about it.” She rolled her eyes.

“You want to share?” he asked, a hint of mischief in his eye.

“Share what?”

“The bed, Erin.” He patted the uncomfortable hospital bed. “It’s a tight squeeze but we do tight pretty well.”

“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” She said.

“Too late for that.” Dave moved over until he wasn’t quite leaning on the guardrail. “C'mon, baby, let’s end this night the right way.”

Nodding, Erin took off her sneakers and climbed into bed with him. Dave wrapped his arm around her. She leaned her head on his chest, exhaling as she held on.

“I love you, David.”

“I love you too. I'm sorry about tonight; it was just supposed to be a leisurely walk.”

“What happened isn’t your fault.” Erin said. “I'm just glad you're going to be alright. You'll be fine and we’ll move on from this.”

“Absolutely.” He tilted her chin and kissed her. “Now that I'm holding you, I feel better already. We’ll both get some sleep tonight.”

She nodded, snuggling closer to him. It could’ve gone much differently. She didn’t want to think about it but also couldn’t help it. He pulled her out of harm’s way and sacrificed his own safety without a second thought.

Erin knew he loved her but that was completely selfless. What was he thinking when he did it? Was it worth being stabbed? Was she worth it?

“Damn skippy, baby.” Dave said.

“What? Damn skippy, what?”

“You’ll always be worth it, Erin. Don’t you ever doubt it.”

“I didn’t say…”

“I'm a profiler; I just know.”

“Go to sleep, will you?” she kissed his cheek.

“Yes ma'am.”

They both closed their eyes, held on, and fell together. Erin promised herself before sleep took over completely that she was never letting go.

***


End file.
